New Ruling Sought On Kittles` Animals

July 31, 1985|By Patricia Elich, Staff Writer

Vikki Kittles, her mother, her two horses, her three cats and her 37 dogs are all not living happily ever after.

That much was clear during an in-chambers hearing called Tuesday by Broward County Judge Brian Kay to find out how Kittles and her animals are doing since all but one of them moved June 21 to Clewiston.

Kittles made headlines, including in the National Enquirer, when it was discovered in May that she had a menagerie of dogs, cats and horses living inside her small Wilton Manors home.

After a series of sometimes tempestuous court hearings, Kay made what appeared at the time to be a popular decision. At the urging of several people, including Hollywood City Commissioner Cathy Anderson and an anonymous wealthy woman who offered financial assistance, Kay decided to give Kittles` animals -- except one dog named ``Grandpa`` -- to a Clewiston woman named Doris Downs.

Now, however, Kittles has moved back to Broward County, saying the arrangement is not working out. According to Kittles, Downs threw her off the farm.

``She`s feistier than I am, as hard as that is to believe,`` Kittles said after the hearing.

Meanwhile, Downs, who has 40 to 60 cats and several dogs of her own, has asked Kay whether she can give Kittles` animals to the local pound.

Kay took no action at Tuesday`s hearing, but is scheduled to review the matter Aug. 16.

At least part of the problem, according to Kittles, is that Downs has discovered that her newly purchased farm is on irrigated land that will be flooded sometime in the next few months, attracting mosquitoes and creating other inconveniences.

Two women who have been dead set against Kay`s decision are now saying, in so many words, ``We told you so.``

``It`s all your fault,`` Pat King told Kay. ``You should be ashamed,`` said Dorothy Cleary. Both women are members of the Broward Animal Protection League. They wanted to place the animals in various homes, in addition to putting some of the oldest and sickest animals to sleep.